Upon hearing of the nomination, she said: “To be honest I was a bit scared at first, because I didn’t have a clue!

“I am very grateful though.”

In her nomination Karen, 36, who has been friends with Gayle since school, said: “Without a second thought Gayle gave up her own home that she shared with her daughter to move back into her mam’s so that she could come home.

“She had to make sure all things were in place for her mam as she wasn’t capable of doing anything for herself anymore, she needed a special hospital bed, hoist, special chair to help make her mam as comfortable as possible.

“Gayle did get carers in to help four times a day and also had a lot of support from her immediate family, but Gayle was the main carer while also juggling her own part time job and being a mum to her own daughter who was due to sit her GCSEs with all this going on.

“Her mam’s condition worsened rapidly and Gayle would stay up all night in a chair by her side without a second thought and try to continue ‘normal’ routines the following day.”

The Gazette Community Champion awards, in association with npower, recognise those people on Teesside who go above and beyond the call of duty. The Champion Carer, sponsored by Hartlepool & Stockton-on-Tees CCG & South Tees CCG, highlights selfless individuals whose dedication to others makes them the cream of the crop.